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10.04.2006

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For more Hartman Group articles on SELF-TREATMENT, click here...

08.09.2006 "Food Allergies: Making Sense of the (Seemingly) Non-sensical"

07.26.2006 "Trend Watch: Nutrigenomics"

04.29.2006 "A Case for Vitamins: The Consumer Perspective"

02.15.2006 "Don't Count Supplements Out in 2006"

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DIY Healthcare: Consumer Self-diagnosis And Treatment

Jenny was fed up; nothing seemed to be working and she wasn't getting any better. When the symptoms of allergic reactions first appeared (coughing, shortness of breath, sneezing), she talked with her mom and friends, and searched Internet websites and concluded that dust or mold might be the cause of her allergies. But, now after a thorough and systematic cleansing of her home that included the purchase of a air filtration unit, having heating and air conditioning ducts vacuumed and carpets removed she was no better off. Clearly her self-diagnosis was wrong; it was time to throw in the towel and schedule an appointment to see her doctor.

Jenny's story is not at all uncommon. Signs of the consumer movement in "do it yourself (DIY)" medicine, or self-diagnosis and self-treatment, have been building for decades now. Some of the signs have taken form as growth in categories of products such as dietary supplements and home health devices (such as blood pressure meters) while other markers of the DIY health movement are reflected by growth in alternative therapies such as yoga, acupuncture and massage. Self-treatment and consumer interest in preventative health and "anti-aging" have also driven growth in various spa and fitness-related industries. While signs of an increasingly focused culture of self-care are convenient to cite for the purposes of understanding new elements of retailing both in traditional formats and within healthcare campuses, from a business perspective we can learn more about what is driving consumers to participate in these behaviors by examining their desire to self-diagnose and treat from a cultural perspective.

Understanding Trends in Consumer Self-Diagnosis

Currently, the behavioral "why's" behind the growth in consumer self-diagnosis and treatment are diverse yet connected by a common theme that finds Americans seeking to take control over some element of their healthcare as they live longer while simultaneously confronting escalating healthcare costs and in many cases, limited access to health insurance.

To illustrate the linkage between drivers of self-care with newly developed categories, we can look to the cultural use of dietary supplements (now an $18 billion industry), the roots of which stretch back two or three generations to a time when so-called "folk remedies" were a leading method of self-treatment. The folk remedy era was an age when many American consumers used whole, natural foods precisely because they had both acute and chronic conditions they needed to treat in a world absent of highly targeted and effective pharmacological solutions.

Today, this folk medicine orientation is, for the most part, a lost art among most Americans. At the same time, we currently find that most American consumers address general health concerns (e.g., staying in shape, eating well, eating balanced meals, etc.) with daily, lifestyle routines and practices rather than targeted, acute responses (e.g., taking medication). At this level, most Americans use a vague "watching behavior" (e.g., "I watch my sugar intake") or, if they are more evolved wellness consumers, they incorporate lots of fresh foods into their diet to address current and long-term general health.

When consumers are experiencing chronic or acute health problems (allergies, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis, etc.), we find that they definitely shift from more general watching behaviors and high level dietary overhauls (with the requisite focus on avoiding "bad things") to more proactive and targeted health behaviors. In the case of this proactive set, those with diagnosed chronic conditions generally take medications and, if pushed, also alter their overall diet to avoid ingredients that might exacerbate their condition. In step with these processes we find that most consumers with chronic health conditions eventually end up turning to alternative medicine - to dietary supplement pills as opposed to prescription drugs alone. In doing so, consumers view dietary supplements as a key symbolic component that they use in their lives to challenge the hold that they view pharmaceutical companies have over them. This would be one element of taking control of personal healthcare that while contemporary, also has roots in a hazy "folk remedy consciousness."

Another interesting case example of self-care lies in the domain of women (such as Jenny), who because they have a tendency to take care of everyone in their household, are also leading trends in self-diagnosis and self-treatment. Recent research conducted by The Hartman Group finds that a significant number of women self-diagnose health conditions and many are likely to treat illnesses before seeking professional help. One of the underlying drivers of this trend lies in growing access to health information which is fueling a sense of confidence among women in making their own diagnoses. Other reasons include confidence in their own medical judgment and a feeling that they are more experienced and knowledgeable about health issues.

Easy Access to Information: A Self-Diagnosis Enabler

Health information sources play a very strong role in bolstering confidence in the process of self-diagnosis and making medical decisions. As found on the Internet, health-related information and products are available from a broad spectrum of sources in a myriad of forms. Typing the word "allergies" into Google delivers over 50 million responses. Not surprisingly, WebMD is a top site with a great deal of content on the subject. Google also features sponsored links offering a wide array of products ripe for the self-diagnosis and treatment picking, which prompts us to ask this question: How has the retail world responded to such trends?

In traditional settings such as drug stores, supermarket pharmacies and mass-discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target, acknowledgement of consumer trends in self-care has taken the form of a greater availability of health information (on such topics as drug/dietary supplement interactions) along with a raised awareness among pharmacists as to how to consult with consumers on a broad range of self-treatment topics ranging from dietary supplements to the use of home diagnosis tests, kits and health devices.

Retailers are also focusing on demographics, but not necessarily from a health perspective: Women have become a topic of greater focus especially within drug store chains like CVS who market to them along the lines of premium beauty products. Hospital campuses and Western medicine in general have only just begun to approach the consumer movement toward self-treatment from an approach that attempts to acknowledge the consumer trend in self-treatment while at the same time keeping traditional medicine involved. One of the leading signs of attempts to provide an integrated approach to the meeting place of alternative and conventional treatments and practices lies in programs such as Dr. Andrew Weil's "Self Healing" newsletter and website, both of which focus on the consumer trend to self diagnose and self-treat.

Importantly, while these types of retail and knowledge environments have stepped forward to try and begin to address consumer trends in self-care, a deeper understanding is needed to begin to serve this newly emerging market. Today, product categories (and how they've been historically viewed) are quickly become irrelevant in the eye's of consumers. Traditional category management no longer addresses how consumers mix and match products, driving a more expansive look for solutions. Understanding the "why's" behind some of the these trends as presented here only serve to highlight that the future of healthcare retailing lies in understanding not only where consumers are going, but where they've been in order to serve their diverse product and service needs. While product categories are useful to measure various markets by, no real success will occur until we grasp underlying drivers of consumer behavior.

And all this time I thought I was healthy... <

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